


Tokyo Ghoul: Call to Exist

by PresidentHaise



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Comedy, Ecto-Penis (Undertale), F/M, M/M, Multi, Romance, Violence, Warning: Donald Trump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:20:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23840662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PresidentHaise/pseuds/PresidentHaise
Summary: Alive again after a strange set of circumstances have brought them back and into the future, those who died during the events of Tokyo Ghoul are back. Walking amongst the living, Haise and his friends try to find their place in their second life, and live it well in the aftermath of a socially segregated city shared by ghouls and humans.After escaping with the rest of the reborn who would become known as 'Dragons' themselves, Haise will learn of the dark history that followed after the peaceful era of the dragon era, and will try to once again peacefully unite Tokyo while taking in a part time job at :re. Takes place fifteen years after :re, and I'm open to suggestions and OCs if you got any ;).
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this on Fanfiction.net, where I make updates first. I just like this site better because I can do more on it. Please enjoy!

_ **Mama Mia, it's been a while since I've had the creative thought or time to actually write something that doesn't feel like I'm forcing myself to write.** _

_ **This story takes place after the end of Tokyo Ghoul :re, although to not spoil the beginning story or the first arc, I won't specify how much time has passed between the War with V and to when this story takes place.** _

* * *

* * *

"Goodnight Haise."

Those two words were the last thing that Haise Sasaki expected to hear before finally fading away before Ken Kaneki finally took control.

Or so he thought.

Unlike how he figured he would just slip away into an eternal slumber or void of some kind , Haise was instead awoken mere seconds later by the sudden feeling of asphyxiation burning away at his lungs. With his eyes shooting wide open in a state of panic and confusion, Haise found himself staring through what appeared to be a grey-rimmed glass panel and up at a dim ceiling light through the red-watery substance that surrounded him. Reaching up with his arms, the numbing feeling tingling through his limbs was a clear sign that he had been stationary for quite some time, but the question of how long he was like that was the least of his worries at the moment. Using his arms and now his legs, the loose panel door of the capsule that Haise had been caged in was far less heavy and less secure than he had expected it to be. Splashing around inside the translucent and red watery substance that he had awoken inside of, Haise's powerful legs were able to finally launch the panel across the small room he was in with relative ease; creating an opening that Haise quickly took advantage of in order to free himself. Rolling off from the side of the capsule that stood horizontal to the cement floor below, Haise landed on his stomach before immediately expelling the red liquid from his lungs and stomach. After about ten minutes of vomiting and coughing up whatever foreign substance that had made its way into his organs, Haise simply rolled over onto his back; completely naked and exposed as he stared up at the dim white lights above. 'Where… Where am I? This isn't right, I… I was fighting the One-Eyed Owl… What the hell…?' Haise thought to himself, as he lamented on his current situation, and what he could remember before seemingly fading away. 'Damn, I can't remember anything happening after that… This doesn't make sense; none of this makes sense…' The frustration Haise was accumulating while also failing to understand how he ended up in a capsule inside a cemented room only grew as he felt his stomach grumbling; demanding him for substance. 'Alright… I guess I should look for something to eat for the time being… Glad to see I got my priorities in order.' He mused to himself, and sighed aloud, as he rolled back onto his chest to proceed in struggling to push himself up to his feet. Feeling like a newborn taking its first steps in life, Haise stumbled and nearly tripped over his own two feet for the first few steps he took before finally remembering how to walk again. 'I guess it's been awhile since I've… I guess done anything? Weird…' Haise thought to himself, before being reminded by the rumble in his stomach of what his first current objective was: find food. Walking over to the archway inside the small cell-like room his capsule was inside of, Haise found himself standing before a sliding door that was made up of the same metal poles that were used in prison cells.

Giving the cell door a quick jerk, the decrepit old barred door slid right open without putting up much of a fight. Stepping outside into the hallway just outside of his cell, a quick examination of his surroundings gave Haise the impression that he was late to whatever violence went down outside of his cell; and judging by the decayed armored corpse in the middle of the hallway of different other cells like his own, it was one hell of a catastrophe. Dried blood that was brown in color splattered the cement hallway, and upon further inspection of the mummified corpse on the ground, the man who Haise was crouched over was a CCG security guard named N. Takahashi, according to the keycard the guard had clipped onto his lanyard around his decayed neck. "Sorry Takahashi… I'm going to need to borrow your prized possessions, I'm afraid…" Haise whispered quietly under his breath, as he took the corpse's keycard, along with the blood-stained and weathered 9mm pistol that had been entrapped in his mummified grasp. Brushing away the dry skin flakes and crumpled finger tips from the grip of the pistol, Haise decided to remove the man's black belt that had with it a holster, several magazine clips for the firearm, and a few metal canisters that Haise quickly read to be labeled as 'RC-Suppressor'. Armed and still naked while dripping wet with translucent red liquid, Haise with the help of his training as an investigator raised his newly acquired firearm up in front of him before beginning to cautiously explore the rest of the five other cells that lined the hallway.

* * *

There were six cells in that dimly lit hallway, including his own. Out of the five that he went to investigate, three of them were empty, and showed no signs of recent tampering or escape. The first body that Haise found still in its capsule was barely recognizable; if he could consider what he found inside that goop to be a 'body'. Inside the capsule was merely a glowing pink skeleton with purple tendons and muscle attached to it with a pearly white set of teeth and a pair of white eyes with red irises that appeared odd to Haise upon first glance. While reluctantly placing the tips of his fingers against the body's neck to search for a pulse, after having taken off the top of the capsule himself, it soon dawned on Haise that the eyes of the underdeveloped body were glowing subtly; not enough to be immediately noticeable underneath the dim light from above, but it was just faint enough for him to glance at without being taken aback by it. After failing to find a pulse on the body, Haise found himself staring at its somewhat fascinating form. Although it didn't appear to have skin, the corpse was far from grotesque, and instead carried with it something mystic and alien about it. It wasn't long after becoming entranced by the sight of the purple and pink body when Haise suddenly felt a chill run up his spine as a sudden thought popped into his head. 'Is… Is this thing an experiment gone wrong...? Is… Is that what I am? Am I whatever the hell that thing is?!' Forgetting the fact that he was hungry, which didn't matter to him because the alien-like body inside the capsule didn't stimulate his appetite in the least, Haise pushed aside the corpse inside inside the capsule and waited anxiously for the translucent red water to subside into a reflective surface that wasn't tainted by ripples. After a few moments of letting the water calm down, Haise felt a gasp escape his lips and his eyes grew wide once more as he was met with the image of himself when he first started as the leader of the Quinx-Squad. Gone was his straight hair, and instead he again had his wavy and bushy white hair with black roots on top, and he appeared to be just as young as he did when he was twenty one. That's not what made him scream in defiance before falling down onto his ass before backing up against the wall into a hyperventilating mess however; no, what gave Haise a panic attack was the sight of his grey and red irises glowing gently in his red-tinted reflection. Just as subtle yet noticeable as the eyes of the purple corpse just inches away from his reflection. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…!" Not normally one to be shaken up, let alone curse like a sailor, Haise repeated that same word over and over again as he stared wide eyed at the open capsule in horror. With his knees raised up and his fingers pressed against the side of his face, Haise fought with his mind to regain composure as thousands of questions regarding fear of the unknown ran rampant inside his head. Just to make sure that his suspicions were indeed real and not just a trick of the light, Haise reluctantly forced his eyes to gaze down at the scars he remembered having around his pelvic area and fingers from when Ken had been tortured. Just as he dreaded, there wasn't a single mark on his pristine-pale skin. Continuing to swear under his breath, tears began to well up in the corners of Haise's eyes as he buried his face into his knees while still breathing in and out at a rapid speed. 'What the actual hell is going on around here?! What the fuck is all this?! Where am I? Who the hell am I? WHAT AM I?!' Thoughts similar to these came and went unanswered through his head, as more and more existential despair ran rampant in Haise's head like a rogue tornado. Delving deeper and deeper into his new found stress, Haise would have probably continued to be plagued by horrifying thoughts and eventually fall into madness had it not been for sudden muffled banging coming from the other side of the wall he was huddled against. Wiping his eyes with his forearm, Haise let out a long and shallow sigh as he turned his head toward where the newfound noise was coming from. 'That sound… It must be coming from that cell; the one I didn't get to… Someone must be in there.' Taking in one last deep breath before getting up to his feet, Haise made sure his gun was raised in front of him before making his way out of the cell; making sure to avoid catching another unwanted glimpse of the purple and pink corpse left in its watery grave.

* * *

In the room of the last cell that held those God forsaken metallic and coffin-like capsules that Haise grew to resent, he found that the sound of constant and panicked banging was coming from the middle of the room, where a capsule was shaking violently. Running over to the capsule with the absence of fear that he felt moments ago, Haise quickly stared down through the transparent cover of the capsule to be met with the sight of a young woman with long purple hair and wide purple eyes staring up at him with a look of primal fear in her eyes. "Holy shit…! H-Hold on, I'll get you out of there!" Haise shouted reassuringly to the young woman, who for just a moment before Haise broke eye contact with her, stared at him in surprise. Putting his gun back in it's holster, Haise wrapped his fingers around the metal frame of the capsule cover and gritted his teeth as he attempted to pry open the sealed door with brute strength. "Damn it…! It's no use; it must be vacuum-sealed or something…!" Haise concluded with a frantic look in his eye, as he took a step back from the shaking capsule. "Shit! I'm going to have to find some other way to open this… J-Just hold on and stay still!" Unholstering his firearm, Haise wasted no time in taking aim before firing the gun at the bottom of the capsule. A submerged scream unnerved him slightly, fearing that he had accidentally shot the young woman inside the capsule by mistake as he watched a stream of red-watery liquid flow out from the bottom of the pod-like imprisonment. Just as he had hoped for, the hole he had created inside the vacuum-sealed capsule quickly made the top pop loose; allowing for him to quickly grab hold of its edges before throwing against the cement wall. Without thinking much about anything else outside of rescuing this young woman, Haise ignored the flailing girl's arms in order to wrap his hands around her frame. In one swoop, Haise plucked her out of the capsule before gently lowering her to the floor; allowing her to expel the red liquid from her body in the same fashion that he had done earlier. Not knowing what else to say as he watched the young woman breathing in and out with shaking arms, Haise asked the usual question of "Are you uh… Are you okay?" 'Really? Out of all questions to ask, I ask that…? What am I, a dumbass…?' Haise thought sarcastically to himself, as he looked down to see the look of utter confusion written all over her soaked face.

"Obviously not…" The young woman chuckled half-heartedly back in response, before lowering her head to hide her face away from Haise's curious gaze. "What… What the hell is going on, Kaneki? What did you do…?" The young woman asked quietly, before letting out an anguished scream. **"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?!"** Any fear and anguish on her face became immediately replaced with primal rage, as she screamed once more before looking up to reveal her eyes had become two glowing red and black orbs that shun brightly at him. **"You… You're going to start talking right now, before I tear you in half…!"**

Taking a step back with his firearm instinctually raised up to take aim at the young woman who revealed herself to be a ghoul the moment four glowing pink tendrils unveiled themselves from her lower back, Haise did his best to keep his composure and control of the situation as he kept his eyes focused on her. "Let's just, calm down, okay? No need to get violent now…" Haise said calmly, as he used his other hand to motion the enraged young woman to keep her distance from him. "Let's just… Let's just start with names, okay?" Haise said awkwardly, as he nearly squeezed the trigger the moment she got up to her feet to stand in a crouching stance to allow her kagune to get into a striking position.

* * *

It took about an hour for the two to talk things over, with Haise only having to fire two warning shots at her feet during the conversation. The young woman revealed herself to be Rize Kamishiro, a name that Haise Sasaki himself had only heard of in his reports while investigating who Ken Kaneki was on his own off time. According to Rize, the last thing she remembered before waking up in that capsule was being in excruciating pain, and being forced to stay alive for the sake of creating what she could only described to be as a colossal beast made up entirely of RC-cells that resembled a black worm with grotesque tendrils the size of roads, with thousands of eyes covering its skin. Apparently from what she remembered hearing from Kichimura Furuta, the half-ghoul who had been the one behind the creation of the ungodly beast, she had been used to create a 'dragon', which would use the corpses of its victims to create spawns that resembled large bipedal monsters that were covered in the same grotesque skin and lacked eyes. These spawns of the dragon were called 'dragon orphans'. Her final memory she could recall was being killed by none other than Ken Kaneki, who looked far different from the young man she was now standing before. "So… You were a different personality of Kaneki's…? Not exactly your own person, since you inhabited the same body, but… Tell me, do you remember who I am?" Rize asked with a curious expression on her face; which surprised Haise to say the least. "Do you remember anything about that night I… I asked you out?"

'She's handling this all so well… Better than I did, that's for sure.' Haise thought to himself before trying to remember anything personal about Rize, or anything that Ken Kaneki had experienced with her in his life. "I… I remember being able to recall snippets of his life here and there; outside of researching and investigating who Ken Kaneki was… But that all seems so foreign to me now, including his memories, like-"

"-Like as if you were trying to remember the life experiences of someone who you only read about, right?" Rize interjected with an intrigued look in her purple eyes, as she began to pace around Haise as though he was an interesting piece of historic art. "The way you're referring to Ken Kaneki is the same way someone refers to someone else entirely… You seem detached from his memories, as though you were a persona birthed from whatever had created me as well… As if you were reborn, in a way…" Rize concluded, with a sense of wonderment and thrill in her glowing purple eyes that made Haise frown skeptically.

"You um… You seem to be taking this all in so well." Haise chimed in with a nervous chuckle in his voice, as he watched Rize raise a brow at him with a cute grin spread across her lips. "After our talk… It seems sort of hard to believe that this is all going on; hell, even some of the things that I remembered seem like utter bullshit after saying them out loud!" Haise chuckled dryly before reaching up to rub his palms against his cheeks out of stress. "Sorry for the language, it's just… Nothing makes sense right now, you know?"

"No, no, I get it…" Rize said quietly while nodding her head to agree with Haise's sense of disbelief. "To me, it's just something to take with a pinch of salt, I suppose. What I said is true, as far as my memory goes, but I don't really have any reason to not trust you, nor trust you, so… What matters right now isn't the how or why about us being here, but really all I care about right is just figuring out where we are, and more importantly, what's on the menu to eat…" Rize muttered the last part of her sentence before smiling to herself. "You know, I… I was about to half-jokingly tell you that if I don't find something to help with my appetite soon, that I might have to consider taking a bite out of you… But just saying that feels like an empty threat, if I'm being honest with myself." Rize mused as she took a step closer to Haise to inspect his wide eyes and youthful face. "... No, I don't think I have any desire to sink my teeth into you; or human meat for that matter… The thought of eating something so raw, so… bloodied, actually is kind of appalling to me right now… Funny, right? A ghoul like me, who was infamous for her unrelenting hunger, finds the thought of eating human meat disgusting…" Rize said with a humorless smile on her face, as she continued to stare directly into Haise's confused eyes. Suddenly, Rize quickly brushed away her humorless smile to instead smirk whimsically as her eyes averted downward. "Wanna know what else is funny…?"

Not knowing that he really wanted to know the answer to her question, Haise furrowed his white eyebrows as he frowned a bit at how close Rize managed to get near him. "I, uh… S-Sure, what's funny, Rize?" Haise asked nervously, to which he was quickly met with a sudden and stimulating sensation of having her hand cupping his groin with her hand. "H-Hey?!" Haise yelped out in a mixture of shock and embarrassment, as he quickly took a step back with his cheeks set ablaze with a fiery red blush.

Seeing Haise's reaction, Rize raised her hand up to cover her lips as she let out a snicker. "What's funny is that you look like a discount stripper with that belt and gun on you, dumbass!" Rize snorted, as she wiped the hand she used to grab Haise's manhood on her thigh. "Haha, you were telling the truth about that shitty persona story! You really are the same dork I met at that cafe! I guess that makes it official: maybe your story wasn't complete bullshit after all!" She teased playfully, much to Haise's dismay.

"Was that what really made you believe me…?!" Haise asked in a bewildered tone, which only further made Rize crack up even more.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Haise! I said 'maybe' your story isn't completely bullshit! Not that that I believed you!" Rize laughed aloud, before slowly calming down to rest her face into a smiling expression. "Let's be real Haise, if that really is your name, what you told me sounds like something that Sen Takatsuki would write about; and even then, that plot would have been too weird even for her."

After the initial shock of having been grabbed inappropriately by the young ghoul who he just met in person, Haise allowed himself to lower his guard, and soon he was joining in at the absurdity of it all. "Y-Yeah, I figured that you took what I said a little too easily… But SENce you brought that up, allow me to say… I am Haise.~" The young man said playfully with a goofy expression on his face, as he did a mock bow before standing back up with the gun now holstered back into his black belt.

Astonished at what she had just witnessed, Rize stared dumbfounded at Haise's joking gesture before letting out another cackle. "Oh. My. God… You're a lot funnier than that small shy kid that used to ogle at me from afar! Hell, you REALLY must be a different person than Ken!" Rize declared with an extremely wide-eyed expression as she smiled at the grinning young man before her. "Hehe, oh wow, that's actually hilarious…! Come on Haise, let's look around a bit; see what our current environment has to offer in terms of fulfilling our needs… Starting with a shower! I feel gross…" Rize pointed out, as she stared down at her curvy body with a bit of disgust in her glowing purple eyes. "If I'm going to inevitably have you staring at my ass for the time being, I want to make sure I look at least presentable…~" Rize said wink a flirtatious wink, as she smirked while staring back up Haise's blushing face. "Come on, let's have a look around this joint."

* * *

Seeing how he was the only one with a firearm and a badge that would allow him access to the reinforced steel sliding door at the end of the hallway, Haise figured that it was his responsibility to take lead. Raising his gun up from his holster, Haise used his other hand to hold onto the lanyard as he motioned for Rize to follow behind him as they went out of her cell. "Do you uh… Do you think this place still has anyone here?" Haise asked casually, as he walked past the mummified corpse in the hallway.

Raising an eyebrow at the question as she glanced down at the corpse on the ground, Rize let out a dry chuckle. "Judging by the decomposition of that poor bastard there… I don't think we'll be running into anyone alive around these parts." Rize said sarcastically, as she stepped over the body to continue following behind Haise. "Although, just because we probably aren't going to find anyone still alive around here, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't rule out the possibility that we won't run into whatever did that to him… Do you have a kagune? Considering that Ken used one before putting me out of my misery, or least that's what he probably thought to himself before actually doing it, I'm assuming you're a half ghoul or some other crazy thing..." Rize said with a bit of bitterness in her voice.

"Kagune? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I still have mine… Which I guess technically is yours, if my memory of Ken's origin serves me right." Haise said with a bit of a smile on his face, before leaning down to carefully make sure not to strike Rize as he unraveled his kagune into four glowing purple tendrils. With the tips of his scaled tendrils shimmering in the dim light above, Haise looked up at the tips of his kagune, intrigued at how different he remembered them being. **"Odd… I could have sworn they were more veiny and less… Illuminating."**

 **"Let's just chalk that up as one of the many oddities we've both encountered today, and get a move on."** Rize said impatiently, as she let out a sigh under her breath while unveiling her kagune as well. **"All jokes aside Haise, I'm hungry, thirsty, and really want to wash this goo off me and get into some warm clothes… And get to the bottom of this whole situation as soon as we can."** Unlike how she had sounded ever since Haise and her had come to the unsaid mutual agreement that they were allies for the time being, her voice had fear in it.

Getting to the large door at the end of the hallway, Haise paused for a moment before turning his head over his shoulder to smile reassuringly at Rize. **"Hey now, don't worry about a thing 'mon; cause every lil' ding', is gonna be alright~."** Haise said playfully in an attempt to mimic a reggae artist to lighten up the mood, as he blindfilly pressed the keycard against the device scanner alongside the left of the reinforced sliding door. His attempt seemed to work a bit, even if Rize knew just as well as he did that neither of them knew what was up though the dimly lit flight of stairs that led up to the unknown above.

 **"It's… It's funny, really."** Rize said quietly as she began to follow behind Haise, as they began to ascend up the flight of metal stairs that had empty bullet casings and spots of dried blood littering every step. **"I think I remember using the excuse of me being afraid of 'what goes bump in the night' to get Ken to follow me into that alleyway..."** Rize mused aloud with a nervous tone behind her words, before flinching at the sound of claws scraping against cement from up above from what sounded like several large creatures shuffling around in the near-distance. Frozen in their places, Rize's tendrils extended out further past Haise's own kagune; worried about entrusting her life along with her only companions' well being entirely into the hands of him. **"Those… Those things, the d-dragon orphans or whatever that cocky asshole called them… They looked exactly like the sketch Ken drew and showed me while we were on that fake date… The same date that I used as a ruse to make him think that I saw him as anything more than an easy meal..."** Rize said in a quiet voice, as she was practically now whispering into Haise's ear due to how close she was to him. Wishing that the flight of stairs were longer than they actually were, Rize felt her heart drop and her kagune tense up as the dim light from above the lobby that the stairs had led them into revealed a crowded room of tall hulking beasts; all who hissed at them with their claws and teeth bared out at toward their direction. There must have been at least twelve crammed inside that small lobby, all of which were beginning to make their way towards the duo. **"... It really is funny, isn't it?"** Rize asked calmly into Haise's ear, before side stepping into a crouching position just as her companion raised his firearm to take aim at the bulkiest dragon orphan out of the group; presumably the alpha of the horde. Letting out a horrifying scream that sounded like a mix between human and demonic, the alpha led the eleven other dragon orphans, as they began to swarm their prey.

 **"... It sure is, mon'."** Haise said solemnly, unaware that he was still using his fake-Jamaican voice as he fired the first of many shots from his firearm while simultaneously tearing his enemies apart mercilessly with his tendrils.

* * *

_ **Haise and Rize, together in a team to help each survive and discover the mystery behind their rebirth? Yeah, consider that I absolutely adore Haise far more than Kaneki, and I've always felt like Rize was wasted potential for an actual character rather than just a plot device and a hallucination for Kaneki to see during his evolution as a one-eyed ghoul.** _

_ **This story, unlike my previous works and a little bit like Conquesitore, is a bit out there in means of story, yet is free and open like a sandbox for my creative pleasure. It's not grim dark like my previous story, but it sure will have lots of graphic violence, blood, gore, sex, and profanity while still being comedic (or at least me trying to be funny without it being too overbearing or overstaying it's welcome).** _

_ **The inspiration for the story came from a mixture of Dead Rising and Fallout New Vegas, considering that although Ken Kaneki helped unite humanity and ghouls by creating an enemy for both sides to focus on rather than each other, he also pretty much released a swarm of reproducing beasts that went underground and no doubtfully ravaged the rest of Japan, who more than likely didn't get the memo about the dragon orphans in time due to TSC not being able to communicate with CCG due to them being two separate organizations with different ideals; no doubly being politically against one another.** _

_ **Basically, both sides at least in Tokyo are prepared and working together against dragon orphans, but that doesn't mean the rest of Japan will fair just as well. CCG wouldn't be able to survive in a world where dragon orphans are ravaging the lands.** _

_ **If you have any ideas you would like to be implemented into this story, or want to see your OC joining the fray, please don't be a stranger!** _

_ **Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!** _


	2. The Not-So Itsy-Bitsy Spider

_** Second chapter is here, thank you for reading my story this far in! I wanted this chapter to give Rize some more backstory while also developing the two's chemistry, and expanding more on character development. ** _

* * *

After their first taste of what was certainly awaiting for them up above, Haise and Rize stood together inside the cramped elevator cart; each of them having different expressions plastered on their faces. Covered in less blood than Rize, Haise felt his pulse racing and his chest visibly rising and falling as adrenaline coursed through his veins. Down to his last clip of ammo, Haise's eyes stared down at his pistol that was in dire need of maintenance; something he realized after using it and noticing how inaccurate it actually was. "That was intense… Rize, are you okay?" Haise asked with a slightly exhausted voice, before turning his gaze over toward her to be met with an enthusiastic smile on the young ghoul's face.

"I am absolutely phenomenal, Haise-Kun!" Rize answered back in a wide eyed expression, as she shook her fist with excitement. "The rush that one only gets when their life is in the balance, and the one factor in deciding their fate is from their own skill in battle…! The endorphins pumping through my body right now and the ecstasy swirling around my mind like a mystical storm is a testament of how much bliss is pouring out of my soul right now, Haise-Kun!" No longer able to hide her stimulation she had received from tearing through the monsters with her kagune and bare hands, through enemies that she knew didn't stand a chance against her, Rize let out a happy squeal before turning to her right to grab the startled young man's shoulders. "It's been _TOO_ long since I've felt this way before, Haise-Kun! Crushing the opposition… Dominating those weaker than yourself who would _DARE_ oppose yourself… What I'm describing could only be described as the thrill of battle! Do you not feel it?!"

Staring at her wide and somewhat eerie smile, Haise did his best to force a grin on his face to match her euphoria. "Well… It certainly got my blood pumping, that's for sure." Haise said uneasily with a nervous chuckle. "Weren't you afraid though, Rize…? I mean, those things to me at least are quite unsettling to look at…"

Although her wide eyed expression subsided, Rize still had a victorious smirk on her face as she gazed to the side while still holding onto to Haise; expressing a thoughtful look in her purple eyes as she thought about what Haise had asked. "Don't get me wrong, Haise-Kun… Those dragon orphans are rather fearsome to look at; their elongated claws and those horrendous teeth of theirs are those belonging to beasts of nightmares…But I wasn't going to be afraid of something that I knew I could kill with ease! The thought of one of the things getting close enough to bite my head off in one chomp was a real possibility that I wasn't unaware of. Hell, we could have died back there, and been devoured alive; our last thoughts being rampant with pain and agony as they tear us apart limb by limb, tendon by tendon… But why would I be afraid, Haise-Kun? I knew what I was against, and maybe you're a bit scared because you never saw those things before like I did." A momentary somber look washed over Rize's face, but only for a moment. "... But hey, that's what makes horror stories fun to read, right? That thrill, mystery, and fear of the unknown is what made Sen such a good writer in my opinion, and what better way to feel those emotions than expecting them in real life scenarios?" Rize asked with an optimistic smile on her face, as she gently released her grip from Haise's shoulders. "Look at my enthusiasm simply as a coping mechanism to handle the stress of having to fight for my life, if it seems too much of an oddity for you to try and understand."

Nodding his head, Haise felt it easier for himself to smile naturally as Rize took a small step back with her hands down at her sides and off of him. "I understand Rize… Thank you for explaining your feelings to me, I appreciate the trust." Haise said happily, as he felt his pulse beginning to relax while the sound of the elevator rising up inside the metallic shaft continued to give him anxiety; an anxiety that was being kept at bay thanks to having a companion by his side. "... You know, I'm actually surprised that this elevator is still operational! Judging by how dim the lights are around here, I figured that this place was being powered by an emergency generator or-"

Before Haise could finish his damming sentence, the lights inside the elevator flickered for a few seconds before completely shutting off along with being followed by a low hum. In a matter of seconds, not only were the duo cast into darkness, but the elevator suddenly stopped in its tracks as well. Chuckling at the timing of Haise's observation, Rize shook her head before glancing over at the young man's bioluminescence eyes that shun dimly within the shroud of black surrounding them both. "Talk about a jinx… I guess that's God's way of telling us that we should have gotten our lazy asses up the stairs instead of trying to take the easy way up… Got anything in your utility belt that can help us see? We can't really do anything effectively without seeing what the hell we're doing."

"Sure, uh… Let me see what I got to work with." Haise said reassuringly with a bit of uncertainty in his voice, as he lowered his hands toward his looted belt. Searching as calmly as he could through each pouch he had on him, the one-eyed ghoul silently prayed that the security guard who he had taken the belt from had owned a flashlight. Rather than finding a flashlight however, Haise instead felt a rectangular device that he quickly figured to be a smartphone. "He must have relied on his phone as a means of a flashlight… Ooo, this looks fancy!" Haise said with an amused and fascinated voice, as he pressed the side button on the smartphone to turn on the screen, only to be met with an unresponsive device. "... I think the battery is dead."

"... Why wouldn't it be?" Rize asked sarcastically, before taking in a deep breath. "Okay, looks like we're going to have to improvise! Here, **cover your head.** " Rize instructed, as she reached over to place her hands where she assumed the top of Haise's head would be.

"Cover my-?!" Before he could finish his sentence, Haise flinched at the sound of metal suddenly being pried open just above him. "R-Rize?! What are you doing?!"

" **I'm making an opening for us to crawl out of, that's what I'm doing, obviously...** " Rize quipped back, as she continued to use her tendrils to tear open the steel top of the elevator easily if though it were made of paper. " **Why, scared of the cable snapping?~** "

Swallowing the lump in his throat, the thought of falling back down several stories down into a pit of darkness frightened Haise; despite the fact that there was a chance that his body could withstand such a fall. "Well, y-yes, aren't you?"

" **Not in the least, Haise-Kun, not in the least.** " Rize said confidentially, as she used her kagune to do one last inspection around the opening she had made to make sure it was large enough for them to use comfortably. " **I read somewhere in a book that all elevators have a fail safe mechanism that captures the moment a malfunction occurs. The cable is used to pull it up and down, Haise-Kun, not to necessarily secure it… There are safety latches on the sides of these things to prevent the elevator from falling in case such an event where to occur… Why, the only thing we should have to worry about is if-** " Cutting her off was the feeling the elevator car around them shaking violently and the ceiling suddenly caving in from above. " **I should have kept my mouth shut…** " Rize muttered to herself, as she quickly pulled Haise into her arms before shielding them both with her kagune.

"Shit…! The elevator is going down…!" Haise whispered in a hushed and panicked tone, as he could feel the elevator beginning to violently descend in a jerking and sudden motion with each passing second that passed. Holding tightly onto his pistol, Haise was thinking about what direction to take aim at toward whatever was in the elevator with them when his pistol was quickly taken away by Rize.

" **Shh… If I can feel where it touches my kagune, I can predict where to hit it.** " Rize quickly explained to Haise about why she took his firearm without needing to be asked first why. Focusing hard to estimate where the unknown creature would strike first, the young ghoul became unnerved by the sudden realization that whatever was in the elevator with them wasn't immediately attacking her kagune, but feeling around it with the use of two large appendages; as if it was looking for an opening to get into. The sound of wet and low clicking noise, the same kind of clicking noise a person would make with their tongue, became barely audible to Rize, making her nerves flare up with anxiety. With the shaking elevator cart becoming more and more unstable by the second, the young ghoul silently swore under breath and decided to use her free arm to press Haise's face into her breast to shield him from the gunshot, as she fired blindly through her own kagune at whatever was in the elevator with them. The moment the shot made contact with the thing that had invaded their small and confined space, the beast made a high pitched squeal that was far more quiet than what Rize was expecting to hear due to its apparent presence size. Unlike how she expected the creature to retaliate, her kagune was left unscathed as the sudden weight of the elevator became lifted.

"Did it… Did it flee?" Haise asked quietly to Rize, and before she could give him an answer, the same sound of metal being torn apart echoed loudly from within the elevator shaft. Confusion soon gave way to fear as Haise quickly realized what the beast was deliberately doing to the floor of the elevator with rapid speed and precision achieved that could have only been obtained by something that had the ability to see in absolute darkness. "Rize! It's going to-" Unable to finish his sentence in time, all Haise had time to do was to hold on tightly to Rize before the two of them lost their footing and fell down hard against the floor. Still being focused on keeping her kagune raised up in a barrier-like formation to protect herself from the creature, Rize was unable to react in time to save herself from having her head crack open audibly loud against the side of the elevator shaft, before becoming limp in Haise's grasp. Using his kagune quickly while Rize's own kagune began to audibly dissolve into the air, Haise attempted to seize their fall by stabbing his tendrils into the shaft of the elevator. " **Come on, come on…!** " Haise muttered frantically to himself, as he blindly felt around Rize's right arm until he located the gun that was still gripped tightly in her hand. Although he was able to locate the pistol in time, he found it too difficult to remove it from Rize's powerful grip. Suddenly, Haise felt a scream escape from his lips as four long and hairy appendages wrapped themselves around him and Rize's unconscious body before beginning to lift them both up toward the beast who made a sickening wet-clicking sound that only grew louder as it pulled its next meal closer in. Realizing that he was running out of time, Haise tried to attack where he figured the beast was by blindly launching his tendrils up toward it; a feeble attempt that quickly was proven useless after whatever had him in its grasp sprung four more appendages of its own to pin Haise's tendrils against the shaft of the elevator. A chill of dread and absolute terror ran through Haise's trembling body, as he could now feel the creature's hot breath that stunk of decay. With his last hope being a quick plan that had more flaws in it than he had time to count, Haise forced himself to push past his fear that froze him to the core, and fumbled to unlatch an RC-Suppressant canister from his belt. With one hand still wrapped around Rize's nearly rock-sturdy hand, Haise nimbly pressed down on Rize's fingertip to fire the gun inside the cramped space they were in. The pain of the bullet ricocheting deep onto his right thigh paled into comparison with the amount of absolute horror that Haise felt through his very being at what he saw for that split moment when the flash of the firearm's muzzle illuminated the elevator shaft in a yellow light. Staring down at him, connected to a stringed web composed of what appeared to be a mixture of blood and bone, a large monster that resembled a black window that doubled the size of the elevator cart hung above them with eight red eyes, and had two large fangs that protruded from its ungodly large maw. Due to how close Haise was, he was able to see a set of very human-like teeth smiling at him, covered in a black translucent slime that drizzled down its grotesque black shiny exoskeleton. Nearly gagging at the wretched stench that emitted from its mouth that was a mere ten inches away from him, Haise quickly reached up and pulled the pin of the canister before slamming it inside the creature's wet and slimy mouth; his aim based entirely from the split second he was able to visibly see the monster above him. Pulling out his saliva-covered hand and arm just in time before the spider-like beast could manage to shut its jaw on him, Haise heard the creature's low clicking sound transform into a high pitched wail of agony and pain as the gas filled its body; a cry of agony that gave Haise a momentary sense of victory before realizing what the spider that had shown intelligence was going to do to them. Rather than letting them go, the spider continued to cry out in its ungodly high pitched scream before reeling its long hairy appendages back to throw the two ghouls down the elevator with all of its might. Using his own kagune to act like a barrier to absorb the force of the impact, Haise and Rize fell down into the dark abyss for a solid thirty seconds before hitting the bottom of the shaft. Landing straight on his side and right on top of the last remaining canister he had on his belt, Haise groaned out in agony as he felt a burning pain erupt in his hip; signaling to him that he had broken a bone. If that wasn't enough for him to deal with, Haise was met with the familiar and faint sound of gas being released from underneath him. Feeling down with his fingers past the warm blood that was flowing down his hip and thigh from where the bullet had pierced him just moments ago, Haise gritted his teeth in pain as he felt around the cracked opening that ran along the surface of t he last RC-Suppressant canister that he had on him; the same RC-Suppressant that was now flooding the bottom of the elevator shaft with. "R-Rize…!" Haise choked out through the gas, to which he was met with nothing more than the sound of shallow breathing that quickly became drowned out by the familiar faint sound of high pitched screaming, and the echoes of metal denting coming directly from above him. "Fuck… FUCK!" Just when he thought he had been free from harm's way, the instant realization that the giant spider from up above was now free falling down towards them gave way to the vision of them being crushed by its massive body caused Haise to push past the pain to allow him to get up to his feet. Without the use of his kagune to assist him, Haise used the last of his adrenaline to pick up Rize with one arm before feeling around for the opening of the elevator doors that led back into the lobby with his other hand. Screaming through the pain and fear that threatened to overwhelm the one-eyed ghoul, Haise pulled apart the sliding doors with all his strength before nearly tossing himself through the doors with Rize still in his grasp. Sliding against the cement floor that was still wet with the spilt viscous from the dozen dragon orphans that he and his companion had slain less than ten minutes ago, Haise was able to create a distance between himself and the elevator doors before bumping into the large corpse of whatever remained of the alpha dragon orphan. Just as he laid his head back against the corpse of the alpha, the sound of a loud and wet thud shook the elevator shaft that hid just behind the sliding doors just a few meters away from Haise's exhausted and injured body. Just when he thought it was finally over, a wave of dread and doom shot down his spine as he realized that despite the spider clearly falling down onto the base of the gas-filled elevator shaft, it was still shuttling around behind the elevator doors, that were now being torn open by a set of four large appendages; the same dangly long appendages that moments ago had almost fed him to the unholy spider. "Oh no…" Was all Haise could muster to say wearily, as he bore witness to the spider creature tearing apart the sliding doors with ease. With the lighting above inside the lobby still being present, Haise became frozen with fear, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, as he watched the spider begin to crawl out of the elevator shaft and into the room he and Rize were in, one leg at a time. However before it could poke its grotesque and dried-up fangs out from the elevator shaft, a sudden sound of rock and metal grinding and breaking apart caused the beast to freeze in its tracks, as if it knew what the sound had been. It locked its eight-red eyes with Haise for a split second, conveying a sense of dread of its own before it began to cry out in its shrill high pitched scream. Panicked and unable to actually fit its body through the narrow opening of the elevator doors, the spider continued to cry out in terror in its last moments before the top of the elevator shaft that the beast had attached and kept in place with its now dissolved kagune-web caved in, and crumbled down onto its squirming body. With the cave in filling the elevator shaft with loose earth and pieces of steel, the spider's body was turned into paste in a matter of seconds, with the only thing of parts of the beast surviving the cave-in being the four legs that it had used to open the elevator doors; the same four legs that were launched across the lobby and into the wall behind Haise and Rize with a bloody trail behind them from the sheer force of the limbs being propelled out from the spider's crushed corpse. At last, the spider-like beast had perished.

* * *

It must have been at least an hour for how long Haise sat with his back against the corpse of the alpha dragon orphan with Rize's head cradled in his lap. Haise had long since pulled the bullet from his now healed thigh as he stared down at the dried crusted blood that covered the spot where Rize had accidentally broken her skull. Lamenting over how hectic his first day of being alive once again was, Haise silently wondered to himself if being alive was worth the trouble. ' _We haven't even made upstairs past this level… We're still underground, and we've already had to fight for our lives in less than a day twice… Do I even want to know what the surface is like…? What if there's nothing left… No, no… I have to be positive, I don't know for sure if things are better or worse up there than things are down here, but… I have to keep going on… I have to find them…_ ' Haise thought silently to himself, as the image of his squad that he thought of like family came to his head. "Saiko… Mutsuki… Kuki… Ginshi… I'll find you if you're still out there, I promise… I'll find you guys..."

"... Whaaaat arrreeee youuuu mutteringgggg to yourself… Haise-Kunnnn…?" Rize asked quietly in a slurred voice, the same kind of voice one would use when they're just waking up from a drunken episode.

Caught off guard by the young ghoul, Haise flinched a bit. Still being on edge and holding onto the pistol that he had managed to pry away from Rize's paralyzed body while they sat there on the cemented floor, Haise nearly pulled the trigger of the firearm that he had kept pointed towards the door leading towards the flight of stairs inside the lobby at the sound of her voice.

"R-Rize?! Rize, a-are you okay…?!" Haise asked in a worried yet hushed voice, as to make sure not to startle her. "I was worried that you weren't going to wake up… I'm glad you're awake."

"Don't w-worryyy… I've had worseeee… Or at least I remember having w-worse…" Rize chuckled quietly to herself, as she opened her soft purple eyes to stare up at Haise's concerned expression. "I w-wonder… I-If you were Ken, w-would you have even tried to save me…? Or would you have left me…? If you were him, I think y-you would find it fitting that I ended up being crushed for a second time, wouldn't you…? Haha… He probably would have excused it by saying ' _Don't worry, she's in a better place now.'_ " Rize smirked wearily to Haise, as she struggled to raise her hand up to point a finger toward the collapsed elevator, that had dirt and rock pouring out from the blood-soaked debris that kept the sliding doors stuck open. "Does that look like a 'better place' to you…?" Rize asked humorlessly, as she gave a quiet yet solem laugh before becoming silent. "I… I went off on a tangent there… Sorry if that didn't make sense... Considering that you probably aren't aware of Ken and I's history, I'm guessing a lot of what I said didn't make sense to you, huh…?" Rize asked in an apologetically-tired voice, before sighing softly while still keeping her gaze focused on the sight before her. "You mentioned some names just now… 'Saiko', 'Mutsuki', 'Urie', 'Ginshi'... Are they your friends?" Rize asked with a hint of interest and empathy in her voice, as she turned away from the wreckage to look up at Haise's worried eyes.

Nodding softly, Haise did his best to smile at the memory of his squad; each of their faces providing him a sense of nostalgic comfort and dread as he thought of their fates. "They're… They're more like family to me than friends… I would like to see them if they're still around." Haise said with a somber look in his soft glowing eyes, as he softly exhaled. "If… And that's a big 'if' from the look of things so far."

"So… You're already assuming the worst than?" Rize asked, with an understanding look in her eyes, to which Haise replies with a silent nod. "That's probably the best thing to do; it sucks to have your hopes up for nothing, after all… But uh, to be, uh… To be honest, I can relate to what you're feeling right now."

"How so? Do you have anyone you're wanting to meet too?" Haise asked curiously, to which Rize nodded her head to.

"Yeah, I uh… It's with my father…" Rize said solemnly, with an uncomfortable look on her face that was far different from her usual cocky attitude that Haise had known her for during the short time they've shared together. "I've been meaning to make amends with my father for quite some time now… Even before all of this happened, and way before I was forced to create that monster… I…" Rize trailed off, becoming lost in thought as she struggled to create a coherent string of words to convey her thoughts and feelings to Haise. "I… I was adopted by him, a ghoul who owned a temple just outside of the hustle and bustle of the city. We lived in a mountainous area, surrounded by woods and water… I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but I lived in a place called Okutama before moving to Tokyo to study English." Rize explained, while Haise simply stared at her with attentiveness to what she had to say. "Anyway, my adoptive father would take students and children in need from all nationalities, whether they're human or ghoul, it didn't matter to him. He would show us discipline through martial arts, and teach us the importance of pacifism, and how it was vital that we realized that even if we had to feed or hurt others, killing should only be done if there are no other options… Looking back at how he was now… I can confidently say that my father was a good man; and an even better father to all of us… And how did I pay him back? How did I pay this man back, the same man who sacrificed so much for all of his students who he adopted as his own? The same man who even resorted to having us flee from a CCG raid while he stayed behind to buy us time to escape…?" Rize asked rhetorically, with tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she stared up at Haise's patient and understanding face. "I… I remember pushing people down, and hurting those who were faster than me, all for the sake of buying myself time to flee without worrying about being captured and brought back to… To a life no child should have to endure... I did what I did, because deep down I knew he wasn't going to be able to hold them all off for long… I saw him back then as a weak man… I used to resent him, and s-saw myself above everyone else who called me their sister… I was strong, and made sure that I used my strength to get ahead of everyone else, even after I made sure I was the last of his children left standing." Raising her arm up to use the back of her forearm to wipe away her tears, Rize was no longer focusing on Haise as she continued to pour out her own demons, now that she was lost in remorse. "I-I threw away everything Sensei Kamishiro stood for, and defiled his family name, all for the sake of thinking I was above others…! H-He rescued me; rescued me from being another victim to some sick fuck's inbred dream! I-I…!" Quivering at the lip, Rize couldn't bring herself to continue to finish her sentence. Letting out a shallow sigh that allowed Haise to know that she was on the verge of sobbing, Rize let out a deep breath before wiping her eyes once more. "I… I want to get going. Haise-Kun… Can you get up?" Rize asked with a serious tone that was absent from any of the sadness she had in her voice moments ago.

Taking a moment longer than he thought to process everything she had just poured out to him, Haise found it difficult for a moment to speak the words he wanted to say, so he simply nodded before carefully getting up onto his sore legs. Although he had a mind full of questions to ask; questions regarding what his companion had just told him, the young man decided to save those questions for later, and pushed aside his curiosity for the sake of giving her the space and time she needed. "I'll take the lead, Rize; please follow behind me, just in case anything tries to get the jump on us." Staring blankly up at him, Rize simply nodded before quietly following behind Haise, as he raised his firearm up in front of him before opening the door to the dimly illuminated flight of nearly endless stairs. Before deciding to make his ascension upstairs, Haise decided to take a look at his surroundings, and was soon rewarded for efforts by the sight of a detailed map located next to the door he came out of. The map showed which floor led to what, written all on its plastic surface. "Let's see… Here we go, we are forty-nine floors down below the ground level, and according to this, our first stop should be the armory, which is just nine levels above us, and only one story below where the barracks and galley is located… Judging from what the little subtext below where the galley and barracks are on the map, I'm going to say that it means that there's something for ghouls to eat too… If we're still ghouls, that is…!" Haise chuckled uneasily at his own quip, before quickly becoming silent after realizing Rize wasn't reacting to what he thought to be amusing. "Anywho… Ready?" Haise asked optimistically to Rize, who simply stared up at him with a distracted look on her face before she finally nodded softly. "Great, because after what we just survived through, I'm really starting to feel in **SPIDER** ed!" Haise said whimsically with a playful wink as he turned to face Rize, who stared at him with a confused and quiet stare. "... G-Get it? Because there was a giant spider in the elevator shaft that tried to eat u-"

Suddenly, a look of absolute horror and disgust washed away any silence and thoughtfulness from Rize's face the moment Haise revealed through a pun that the thing that attacked them, the thing that poked at her kagune, was an eight-legged freak of nature. "T-THAT WAS A SPIDER?!"

RealIzing that perhaps Rize has been under the impression that what attacked them was a dragon orphan that she was familiar with, Haise found himself suddenly being put on the spot, and even began to feel slightly guilty for not bringing that tid-bit of information up earlier. "Eh… Kind of?" Haise said with an unsure look on his face, as he stared down at his feet to avert his eyes away from how horrified and disgusted Rize looked at the mere thought of there being an insect of that size existing in the same universe she occupied. "Now that I think about it… It could have been a dragon orphan variant or something? It was really smart… Way more intelligent than anything remotely close to what those eyeless ones were able to display… Oh, and it had human teeth and it's web was I think a kagune, but… It had bones in it, so…?"

" _THAT'S DISGUSTING, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!_ " Rize shouted with a repulsed look on her face, as she began to fight off the sudden wave of nausea that threatened to make her vomit for the second time that day. "D-Did… Did it… T-Touch me with its.. Gross hairy… Legs?!" Rize asked, with a queasy feeling that was now making her visibly shake.

Not wanting to have her vomit whatever was left inside her empty stomach onto the cement floor below her, Haise put on a reassuring smile as he raised his free hand up to his chin to pinch it. "No, I-I actually managed to fight it off while holding on to your body…! Y-You were hanging from my hand while it grabbed onto me, s-so yeah, it never touched you…!" Haise said, as he lied blatantly through his teeth.

Whether or not she actually believed what he was saying to be true or not, Rize decided to take his word over the possibility of being told that her naked body was in the hairy mitts of a creature as revolting to her as a spider. "Thank fucking Christ… I don't think I could live with myself if I had to go on knowing that I got felt up by something straight out of Hell…!" Relieved by what Haise said, she let out a sigh before staring at the young man with a revolted look in her purple eyes. "Ew… Haise-Kun, we need to give you a shower ASAP! God knows what sort of disgusting germs or parasites that monster had on it…!" Rize said with a shutter, which amused Haise to say the least.

"Yeah… Yeah, I think I'd like that." Haise said with a content smile, as he looked up from the floor to give a joyful look at Rize, despite the situation and danger that he and his companion were still in.

* * *

Walking upstairs with Rize following behind him while she kept her distance away from him, Haise's training kicked in. With his pistol raised up and ready to fire at whatever went bump in the night, Haise was soon hyper focused on the vision of him becoming reunited with his squadron. This went on for a few minutes until the young woman behind him piped up. "Haise-Kun..." Rize addressed quietly from behind him, which took him out his thoughts.

"Yes, Rize?" Haise asked casually, as his body continued up the stairs as if though he were on autopilot.

"I don't usually say this, but… Thank you… Thank you for not leaving me behind."

* * *

_** Thank you for reading this chapter, please let me know what you thought of it, and if you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to reach out! So long, and have a good day!   
** _


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